Fantasy football 2025 -- Family Cup draft order announcement

The ShaneDoyleQuinnGarrity Family Cup fantasy league is officially back for its second season, bringing our four houses back again to the field of battle to answer which bloodline remains the finest at … randomly guessing which professional athletes will collect the best statistics. Honestly, the stakes could not be any higher.

In case you forgot how our inaugural season finished, House Doyle (Mike, Lexi and Ollie) etched their family name into the championship trophy, while Jim managed to bring honor to Team Garrity by winning the individual title. Everyone is back again this year, and the team mascots are present for the official draft order selection ceremony at Fort Awesome.

First, a little clarity on the draft order rules. Each house will pick in reverse order of finish from last year (Team Quinn, Team Shane, Team Garrity and Team Doyle) to ensure balance among all of the families. That means not two teammates will pick back-to-back. All of Team Quinn and 2/3rds of Team Shane are present for the selection ceremony, but none of them will be allowed to pick any names out of the Sorting Helmet. Instead, that honor will fall to Joanna, who will likely be rooting against all of our teams soon enough as she has to put up with me running two leagues of nonsense.

All of the house mascots are ready to cheer for their warriors, so let us dive in:

Pick #12 — Mike (Team Doyle)

A mighty squeal goes up from Team Doyle’s Cunning Axolotl, which embodies the family’s spirit of adaptability and strategic prowess. Mike finished second in the standings last year, so any sensible system would have had him picking low this season. But this is not a competition for the sensible, it is a competition of passion and heart, so the next pick goes to…

Pick #11 — Shelly (Team Garrity) 

Team Garrity’s striking mascot, the Skittish Emu, emits a loud drumming noise as a sign of warning to the other families. Shelly finished fourth in the league last year — not good enough for a medal, but that’s ok because we never gave out any medals. She’ll have to rise above her draft position to repeat this season. The next name out of the helmet belongs to…

Pick #10 — Pop Shane (Team Shane) 

The Noble Otter of Team Shane spins onto his back and beats his belly in a confident challenge to the other families who have dismissed his family’s chances this season. Pop finished a disappointing ninth in the league last year but first in the Awesome Cup competition, so maybe that success can translate better for his whole clan this season. Our last family now gets its first player onto the board:

Pick #9 — Tommy (Team Quinn) 

That high-pitched clicking noise you are hearing is the battle cry of Team Quinn’s animal spirit, the Aggressive Anteater. This family failed to place any teams in the top half of the standings last season, but they have been scouring the football headlines for advantages the whole offseason, like their anteater has been vacuuming the ground for morsels to eat. Ignore them at your peril. Speaking of peril, the next player on the draft order is …

Pick #8 — Lexi (Team Doyle)

Team Doyle’s mascot is also named Lexi, so this is going to be a confusing situation throughout the year. Her team finished first in the regular season but third in the playoffs, so she’ll be looking to swim to another strong finish with the help of her team. Unfortunately, her whole team is one hour behind the rest of the football world in Wisconsin, so they’ll always be trying to catch up. Onto the next family:

Pick #7 — Jimmy (Team Garrity)
Jimmy was the only member of Team Garrity not to make the playoffs next year, but he’ll have to redeem himself from the back half of the draft. The emu has started pecking at the axolotl’s tank, so we could have a major problem here soon. Moving quickly along…

Pick #6 — Emma (Team Shane)
The otter applauds the selection by attempting to wash the draft slip on its belly. Emma’s team was the hard-luck loser for most of last year, finishing 1-11-1 in the regular season but 2-1 in the loser bracket playoffs. Five names remain in the helmet …

Pick #5 — Shane (Team Quinn)
Our most confusing coach — Shane is on Team Quinn, not on Team Shane, obviously — will pick on the earlier end of the draft. That’s assuming he survives the anteater, who has started licking everything in the hopes of finding protein. Our final representatives from each house are all that is left in the pile. Next up:

Pick #4 — Ollie (Team Doyle)

Ollie becomes the standard bearer for his family, grabbing the top pick available to his clan. The house axolotl smiles in approval. Actually, it’s hard to tell, those weird little salamanders always look like they are smiling. Onto the final three names…

Pick #3 — Jim (Team Garrity)
Last year’s champion wins again — Jim snags a high selection which will get him pretty much anyone but RBs Jahmyr Gibbs or Bijan Robinson (unless other coaches make weird picks). His house emu bobs its head in response, then goes searching for grasshoppers to eat. Another name out of the helmet, and our draft runner up is …

Pick #2 — Jonathan (Team Shane)
The youngest Awesome Cup champion in league history had a tougher road in this league last year, but getting the second selection in the draft should help in year two. The otter tosses a clam his way for good luck. The animals have turned this place into a disaster. Let’s wrap this up with our final coach:

Pick #1 — Grandmom Shane (Team Quinn)
Both Grandmom and the house anteater glance around the room, trying to remember how the Garrity-turned-Shane landed in Team Quinn. No matter. Whatever her allegiance, she gets the top pick in this year’s draft, setting up her team and house for success.

The draft is set, folks. The order is getting put into the system your player rankings need to be squared away ASAP. Now is the time to block all those Cowboys from getting on your roster. I’ll switch the league over to autodraft sometime after Friday night (Sept. 4) so don’t delay.

Just like the Fast and the Furious movies, this league is all about family. Don’t crash and burn. Remember what you are fighting for: 

Fantasy football 2026 -- Awesome Cup draft order announcement

It’s hard to believe it, but 2026 marks the 25th season of the Who Needs Linebackers fantasy league. I remember when we first started this competition, I thought, “I wonder if I’ll spend half of my life making nonsensical fantasy jokes for an adoring fan base of around a dozen friends.” Always follow your dreams, folks.

Speaking of dreamers, we have a whole bunch of managers here aspiring to unseat last year’s Awesome Cup champion, Pop. He showed exceptional poise and strategery throughout the 2025 season, but that’s all in the past now. All teams start with a clean slate and the same visions of glory.

And that all begins with the draft. In case you have forgotten, here are the rules established for the draft order selection process. Since all of our managers can’t be present, and since this is a special anniversary season, I have invited famous #25s from NFL history to stand in for each of our teams. The youngest resident of Fort Awesome is ready to pull the names out of the sorting hat, and the first coach on the board is: 

Pick #12 — Mystery coach
OK, I guess we’re not completely ready for the season. Paul has opted to step away from his coaching duties this season to pursue a lucrative contract coaching a fantasy futebal team, riding the excitement of the World Cup to new heights. We wish him well. There is another ready to step in his place, but that team won’t be announced until next week. In the meantime, the mystery’s coach’s representative — Seahawks Super Bowl champion CB Richard Sherman — tosses his #25 jersey to the floor and asks what all this nonsense is about. We quickly shift to the next name:

Pick #11 — Pop
Last year’s champion should be picking at the bottom of the order this season, so this feels right. Pop’s proxy — Eagles DB Patrick Chung, who won three Super Bowls with the Patriots — raises an eyebrow in silent resignation. Then he points to Pop’s three Awesome Cup titles, and we move along to the next name:

Pick #10 — Capt. Awesome
My fourth-place finish last season was the eighth top-four performance in the last 10 years, but I’ve only got one championship over that time frame to show for my team’s excellence. Hopefully they will be inspired this year by my #25: Eagles All-Pro RB Shady McCoy, who plows over Chung and Sherman just to make a point. The youngest Fort Awesome resident asks why I need a representative if I’m in the room for all of this. I tell her to trust the process, and we plow ahead:

Pick #9 — Bob
Tough draw for Bob, who should be drafting a little lower than this based on his 5th-place showing in 2025. Still, the pick gets a fist pump from Eagles RB Charlie Garner, who wore #25 back before Bob graduated from high school. Bob could use a back like that for his squad this year. Another name comes out of the helmet:

Pick #8 — Ant
Ha! Ant picked #8 last year and ends up in the exact same spot this year, thanks to this ridiculous system. His 6th-place finish last year was respectable, but lacked some of the excitement needed for true victory. But perhaps he can pull some of that from Mr. Excitement himself, Anthony’s team rep, the great running back … Reno Mahe, all 212 pounds of him. Did you know he spent five years on the Eagles and totaled just 196 rushing yards? In fairness, he did collect 95 kickoff and punt returns for 851 yards. That’s not a lot of fantasy points, but every bit helps. Next coach on the clock:

Pick #7 — Mike
Mike finished third last season but hasn’t snagged the trophy since the Covid-mess year of 2020. This year, he’s got a rejuvenated team and a new attitude, just like his team mentor: Former Packers and Eagles RB Dorsey Levens, the only player to wear #25 in green for both teams (probably, I’m not fact checking that). He turns to give Mahe a high five, but Reno cowers and scampers away. We also move along:

Pick #6 — Sam
Same finished in 9th last year even though Yahoo named him the best team based on their pre-season projections. Who knew AI could make mistakes? Sam’s stand-in is the greatest #25 in Carolina Panthers history: Two-time Pro Bowl DB Eric Davis, who intercepts the draft slip and spikes it on the ground. This being a carpeted room, it just kind of sits there. After a moment of silence, we pull the next coach’s name:

Pick #5 — Jonathan
The boy finished second last season but ends up picking in the top half of the draft, because fantasy football is not fair. His proxy — Eagles Hall of Fame WR Tommy McDonald — signals TD in celebration. If this kid wins his third title in four years, we’re gonna have to kick him out of the league. We grumble and push ahead:

Pick #4 — Jo
It was a tough seventh-place finish for Joanna last season, but she’s ready to kick that aside and start this year anew. And in steps in her proxy to help her do that: Five clones of Eagles punter Jeff Feagles, who wore #5 during his career. The youngest Fort Awesome resident complains that there should not be any extra math work in these silly blog posts. I agree, and we turn to…

Pick #3 — Jeff
Blue Collar Killers is on the board with a solid pick to start off the season. His rep — Buckeyes RB Bo Jackson, who wears a college #25 — strikes the Heisman pose in jubilation. He then asks if participating in this exercise makes him eligible for any extra NIL bonuses. It does not. We have just two names left…

Pick #2 — Grandmom Doyle
Grandmom can thank her granddaughter for setting her season up on the right track, giving her once of top two players in the league to build around. Her representative, Eagles All-Pro FB Tom Sullivan, knocks over a set of chairs in response to the pick. That leaves our draft day winner as …

Pick #1 — Joel
Joel finished second to last in 2025, but snagging the top pick should help him start faster in 2026. His proxy … oh, Richard Sherman is back, demanding a real person to represent … so, sure, Richard Sherman strikes a defiant pose to dare all rivals.

That’s it, friends. The draft order will be put into the system in the next few days, and the draft switch will be turned on after Friday (Sept. 4) night. That means it’s time to get your player rankings all squared away: Block all the Cowboys, block the Patriots, block Eli Manning (just to be safe).

Thanks again for joining up for a season of nonsense, and Go Birds.

Oh, and here's a final reminder of what you are playing for: